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Haydn operas

Haydn has a significant legacy in several categories of classical music except for opera, even though he wrote several dozen of them. I've only heard some of the overtures, and they have the typically bouncy and catchy quality that he's famous for.

Haydn has a significant legacy in several categories of classical music except for opera, even though he wrote several dozen of them.

Why do you guys think his many attempts at opera failed?

As the Conte implies (I think), it may be that Haydn's operas don't so much fail as simply recede in the shadow of Mozart. That era produced innumerable operas which were successful at the time, contain much excellent music, and prove quite enjoyable upon their infrequent revival. Many of Haydn's operas have been recorded, and that in itself is more success than many of his contemporaries have received. When have we last heard an opera by Salieri or Jommelli?

As the Conte implies (I think), it may be that Haydn's operas don't so much fail as simply recede in the shadow of Mozart. That era produced innumerable operas which were successful at the time, contain much excellent music, and prove quite enjoyable upon their infrequent revival. Many of Haydn's operas have been recorded, and that in itself is more success than many of his contemporaries have received. When have we last heard an opera by Salieri or Jommelli?

Interesting theory, but surely there are other operas from the era that Mozart dominated that still get staged? None of Haydn's attempts ever entered the international repertoire as far as i know, and i don't think they were very popular even when they were new. I know many have been recorded, but they seem to be very rarely performed by the big opera houses.

Interesting theory, but surely there are other operas from the era that Mozart dominated that still get staged? None of Haydn's attempts ever entered the international repertoire as far as i know, and i don't think they were very popular even when they were new. I know many have been recorded, but they seem to be very rarely performed by the big opera houses.

I can think of no operas written between Gluck and Beethoven except Mozart's later ones and Cherubini's Medea that have remained in the active repertoire of major opera houses. Even Medea, a somewhat bastardized Italian version of the original French Medee, has become peripheral since it served as a vehicle for Maria Callas in the 1950s. Are the vast majority of Classical period operas - there must have been thousands of them composed and produced - worthless? I'd be very reluctant to assume so. Hasse, Graun, Galuppi, Salieri, Jommelli, Piccinni, Cherubini, Gossec, Mayr and Gretry were prolific and famous composers of opera, but virtually all of their works have fallen into obscurity. Occasionally we get a revival of something by Paisiello or Cimarosa, but that's about the extent of it. Haydn, of course, was best known for other kinds of music, and was kept busy by Count Esterhazy. I'm not claiming to know what all of this means, but there may be something on the dusty shelves of history worth our interest.